Bob Dietz

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

2012

There is no better time than now for U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to
step out of their tightly planned schedule of meetings in Pakistan and make a
trip to the home of human rights activist Asma Jahangir.

Activists
from three different political parties died during the 15-day campaign period
leading up to the elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People's Party won a
large majority of seats, according to a report issued by the Committee for Free
and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel).
The Phnom Penh Postran articles on "allegations
of intimidation, ghost voting, and electoral-roll sabotage" in the election,
and the U.S. government-funded Voice of America (VOA) published a story
headlined "Observers: Cambodian Vote
Improved but Problems Remain."

For
a good historical perspective on the abuse of journalists in Sri Lanka, Iqbal
Athas, the recipient of a 1994 International Press Freedom Award from CPJ, wrote a center-page
spread for the 25th anniversary edition of the Sunday Times, a popular weekly in Colombo. Athas, a critical
journalist who specializes in defense issues, works as an associate editor and
defense correspondent for the Times.

The lede to his article recounts a 1998 incident in which armed men invaded his home while he, his wife, and their seven-year-old daughter watched television. After the men left, the story spread, and all night, they received phone calls from friends and acquaintances inquiring about their safety. In his article, Athas describes how one of the callers was then-Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa was trying to make a name for himself as a champion of human rights and offered his support to the Athas family.

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The
climate of impunity that fostered the November 23, 2009, massacre of 57
people, including 32 journalists, is alive and well not only on the southern
Philippines island of Mindanao, where the massacre took place, but in all of
the country. The revelation that the brutalized body of a key witness to the
killings, Esmail Enog, was found two months after he had gone missing is an
indicator of that. Enog testified last year that he had driven gunmen to the
site of the November massacre, news reports said. The killings wiped out almost
an entire generation of journalists in the region.

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Former
Attorney General Mohan Peiris has been ordered to testify about a statement he
made at the U.N. Committee Against Torture in Geneva on November 9, 2011, in
which he said that Prageeth
Eknelygoda was alive and living outside the country (see "Sri
Lanka's savage smokescreen"). Peiris will have to appear at the Homogama
Magistrate's Court in Colombo on June 5, next Tuesday, which has been hearing
the case brought by Eknelygoda's wife, Sandhya, to learn more about his disappearance
on January 24, 2010.

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The murder of a part-time journalist and a gunfire attack on
the house of the president of the Turbat Press Club, both on May 28, underscore
the nature of the escalating violence in Baluchistan. According to the
Delhi-based Institute
for Conflict Management, which monitors violence across South Asia, at
least 10 people were killed in Baluchistan on May 28 alone.

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May has been a terrible month for journalists in Pakistan, a
country that has ranked as the world's deadliest place for the press for two
consecutive years. Two journalists have been killed, two more shot and wounded,
and one attacked while in police custody, all in less than a month, according
to news reports.

On Thursday, the United States rolled back
prohibitions against American companies doing business in Burma. The
announcement marked the latest diplomatic reward given to President Thein
Sein's quasi-civilian government for initiating reforms in what has
historically been a military-run country. In making the announcement, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the democratic changes initiated so far
were "irreversible," but that is a characterization few of the country's
journalists would share.

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CPJ may have raised some eyebrows with this year's list of
the world's 10 most
censored countries. North Korea was relegated to the number two slot,
behind Eritrea. In our last ranking, in 2006,
we ranked North Korea as the worst, and many other organizations continue to do
that.

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On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court slammed the door on a
case about the shutdown of four websites that had failed to register with the
government. In handing down its decision, the Court appeared to rule that
freedom of expression in Sri Lanka is not an absolute right and can be
restricted--and you don't need to pass a law to do so. The three-judge panel
told the petitioners who brought the case--Sunil Jayasekara, convener of the
Free Media Movement, and Udaya Kalupathirana, a member of the movement's
executive committee--that they saw no reason for the court to hear any further
arguments.